Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) is preparing to file a lawsuit against the ICE agent who handcuffed and threatened to arrest her at Humboldt Park Health earlier this month.
In an interview with Windy City Times, Fuentes said she has been consulting with lawyers about taking legal action and could file a lawsuit as soon as this week.
The lawsuit would stem from an Oct. 3 incident inside the hospital’s emergency room, where Fuentes was responding to support a man injured during an encounter with federal immigration agents.
“I’ve been doing fine since then, and my major focus has been making sure that we can get the support that’s needed for the individual who’s in the hospital,” Fuentes said.
A video shared by Fuentes’ office shows an agent suddenly grabbing Fuentes, turning her around and handcuffing her after she questioned whether the agents had a warrant for the man’s arrest. The incident prompted citywide outrage and a formal condemnation from most members of the City Council.
For several days, ICE agents forbade the man from speaking with an attorney or making phone calls, Fuentes said. He underwent reconstructive leg surgery and may need another.
ICE agents detained the man and several others at a work site, Fuentes said. He had temporary protected status and had filed for a renewal. He also has no criminal record.
“And so he’s the one that’s vulnerable right now,” Fuentes said. “He’s the one that needs support.”
Fuentes added that the same ICE agent who handcuffed her has been filmed in at least three other violent encounters, including one at a Walmart, the viral arrest in Waukegan where the mayor was present, and another incident involving a woman.
“It seems that he’s a bit unhinged,” Fuentes said. “He’s obviously a danger to individuals and particularly women.”
Fuentes said the violence she experienced is part of a broader campaign of control and intimidation.
“What’s happening in the city of Chicago is not about safety,” Fuentes said. “It’s about a white supremacist project—about eradicating people,” Fuentes said. “As a queer, masculine-presenting Latina, I pose a great threat.”
She compared recent federal actions to “Gestapo-like tactics” and said they reflect the authoritarian playbook of President Donald Trump and Project 2025, a federal blueprint for a radical restructuring of the executive branch.
Project 2025 was written by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that opposes abortion and reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrants’ rights and diversity and equity initiatives. Although Trump attempted to distance himself from Project 2025 on the campaign trail, policy analysts note that his administration has already implemented 48% of the policy agenda.
“I’ve been saying this is not very different from Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and this level of fascism is what Trump seeks to achieve,” Fuentes said. “We have to understand that this is not about fighting ICE agents that are quote, unquote, carrying ‘carrying out immigration enforcement.’ What we are fighting is fascism.”
Fuentes is among a coalition of alderpeople raising alarms that ICE’s recent actions in Chicago threaten not only immigrant communities, but democracy itself in the U.S.
Last week, 37 members of City Council—along with Mayor Brandon Johnson, City Clerk Anna Valencia and City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin—signed a letter condemning ICE’s conduct at Humboldt Park Health and other recent enforcement operations.
Thirteen alderpeople declined to sign on, including Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), who is one of nine openly LGBTQ+ alderpeople in City Council. Lopez did not return a request for comment.
Fuentes said she hasn’t been in contact with any of the alderpeople who didn’t sign the letter, adding “this is not a moment to be silent.”
“What we are watching is an erosion of due process and an assault on peoples’ rights, and all elected officials should be enraged,” Fuentes said. “The fact that there are alders who see nothing wrong with this picture—even the incident with me being handcuffed at the hospital—it’s disappointing.”
A related lawsuit filed by the city government led a federal judge to temporarily block the deployment of National Guard troops to the city, a move that Trump’s administration claimed was necessary to “restore order.”
Fuentes praised the decision, calling it “the right side of history” and saying it gave her hope that “the courts can still stand up to authoritarian overreach.”
Fuentes said the same forces driving federal crackdowns on immigrants are also behind renewed attacks on LGBTQ+ rights across the country. Both are part of a broader effort to strip away civil protections and concentrate power in the hands of a few.
She drew a direct connection between the two fights, noting that many queer and transgender people are also immigrants or come from immigrant families.
“These struggles are not separate,” Fuentes said. “When immigrant rights are attacked, so are queer rights.”
Fuentes said these overlapping fights demand a unified response that brings together immigrant, queer and trans communities to defend one another against rising hostility and state violence.
“This is not a moment for us to stay silent and on the sidelines,” Fuentes said. “We have a city to protect.”